Botaby steam-engine



unirse .sauras PATENT orrron.

WILLIAM JONES AND ROSWELL FARNUM, OF BRADFORD, VERMONT.

ROTARY STEAM-ENGINE;

Specification of Letters Patent No. 2,896, datedv December 31, 1842.

To all lw'wm t may concern.'

Be it known that we, WILLIAM JONES and IoswELL FARNUM, of Bradford, inthe county of Orange and State of Vermont, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Rotary Steam-Engines, which is described asfollows, reference being had to the annexed drawings of the same makingVpart of this specification. y

Figure l isV a vertical section through the center of the engine theaxle being perpendicular. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the engineon the line a' m of Fig. 1 showing' the hub and radiating piston. Fig. 3is a horizontal section on the line o o of Fig. l, showing the groovedsteam way or channel in the hub. Fig. 4 is a view of the top plate.

A is the revolving shaft arranged in a vertical position. This shaftmaybe placed horizontally. B is the hub fixed to and' revolving with theshaft; C, the piston radiating from the hub B and revolving with it.This piston is hollow in the center forming a steam way communicatingwith a steam way in the center of the shaft; D, the

grooved part of the hub. This is made of greater diameter than the partof the hub from which the piston radiates. The groove or channel F iscircular of suflicient depth to form aV steam way for the escape ofsteam, a segment of which w extends entirely through grooved part of thehub to permit the steam to pass from the steam cylinder into saidcircular steam way which is on the under side of the hub E, the steamchamber in which the piston revolves. This is a circular plate reamedout forming the steam chamber the center of which being of the diameterof the grooved part of the hub and of suiicient depth to receive thesame.

It is perforated in the center for the'hollow end of the shaft to passthrough and near the center for the escape of the steam into thecondenser which is placed over the aperture. This plate is called thebottom plate and has a circular ange perforated for screw bolts whichfasten the top plate to it; Gr, top plate of the steam chamber made ofthe same diameter perforated in the center with a round aperture for theshaft and two oblong apertures for the valves to work through; H H,sliding or reciprocating valves. These are made rectangularV like othersin use. I I valve rods attached to the valves made in thek usual manner.J J

valve chamber fixed to the outside of the steam chamber and in which thevalves move made vin the usual maner, with grooves in the ends thereoffor the ends of the valves to slide inV K K stuffing boxes through whichthe valve rods move fixed to.

the outside'of the valve chambers .L L guides of the valve rods vM Madjustable heads fixed to the valvefrods by screws so as to be raised orlowered on said rods at pleasure for accommodating the swivels to thepo-sition of. the cam wheel N N the swivels attached to the adjustableheads and in which the cam wheel revolves said swivels having roundstems or Shanks inserted in thea heads loosely so that they wll allowthem to turn and accommodate themselves to the cam Vwheel O the camwheel for moving the valves secured to the revolving shaft by a hub andmade adjustable thereon by an adjustable screw passed through the same.

This cam wheel is circular in the plan and winding or spiral in its sideelevation, for raising and lowering the valves alternately as it turnshorizontally P the stuiing box of the shaft secured to the top of thevalveV boxes in the center thereof. Q, a stuffing box of the sha-ftfixed to the under side of the bottom plate ofthe steam chamber. R isthe condenser secured to the under side of the bottom plate of the steamchamber over the escape aperture therein. S pump for exhausting thecondenser. T tube for supplying the condenser with cold water furnishedwith astop cock for regulating the Y supply. V aperture in the shaft forthe admission of steam which is conducted from the boiler through the.tube I). N aperture in the piston communicating with the aperture /U inthe shaft for conducting the steam to the chamber. This'aperture extendsfrom the center of the shaft horizontally through the hub and throughthe radiating piston nearly to the outer extremity of the piston it thenturns at right angles and passes out at one side thereof in the mannerof the Avery steam engine. W the aperture in the hub for the dischargeof the steam. This Y l l 105 aperture extends entirely through the hubnearly a quarter of the circumference of the circular Vsteam way in thehub with which it communicates and 'with the steam chamber as beforedescribed. X screw bolt, for securing the top plates of the steamchamber to the flanged rim of the bottom plate. V screw bolts forsecuring the plates of the CTI valve chambers to the top plate .of thesteam chamber.

e is a segment groove in the hub to allow the steam to pass from oneside of the valve to the other as the valve descends to equalize thepressure of the steam on both sides of it until the valve is entirelydown upon the bottom of the steam chamber to prevent any impingement ofthe valve in the straight grooves. This segment groove is upon the topof the hub opposite the escape aperture w of sufficient depth to allowthe steam to passfrom one side of the valve to the other, as the hubrevolves and as this groove passes the valve the passage of the steam iscut off and a tight chamber is then formed which will cause the steam tohave complete action against the piston. This segment groove may be inthe side of the smaller diameter of the hub in any convenient part ofthe hub. The' circular steam chamber E 'in this modification isrepresented in a horizontal position in which the two circular platesbecome top and bottom plates; butV as before stated the shaft may be ina horizontal position and the chamber be vertical or placed edgewise inwhich modification the circular plates become end plates.

The valves are arranged on the radius of the steam chamber on opositesides of the shaft and in a direct line. rThe piston radiates from thehub in a direct line,A arranged vertically under the highest part of thecam wheel therefore when these are in a direct line with the line of thevalves the valve will be raised or be withdrawn from the chamber so asto allow the piston to pass it without obstruction. The steam isconducted to the interior of the steam chamber E through the hollowshaft A and piston c and acts against the piston at right angles andpropel it around in the circular steam chamber by its elasticity, beingconfined by the valves H which are pushed into the steam chamber andwithdrawn therefrom alternately so as to allow of the action of thesteam and the escape of the same at the required periods of time to keepup the rotary motion of the shaft desired by means of the aforesaid camwheel 0 which is adjusted on the revolving shaft to produce that result.The steam is caused to escape at every semi revolution of the hub and atthe moment of withdrawal of the valve from the chamber which has theeffect of reducing the friction against the sides of the valves whichwould be produced by the pres sure of the steam if the'steam were notlet off simultaneously with the receding of the valve.

The impingement which would be produced by the pressure of the steamagainst the valves as they enter the steam chamber is removed byallowing the steam to pass from one side of the valve to the other alongthe segment groove in the upper side of the hub for equalizing thepressure of the Vsteam on both sides of the valve until the valvereaches the bottomV of the steam chamber where a perfect stop or head isproduced for the action of the steam by the flat or plain part of thehub being brought under the edge of the valve. The steam begins toescape as soon as the eduction slot 1U in the hub passes the valve; thesteam passes into the circular groove or channel F in the hub D, fromwhence it passes through the aperture a in the bottom plate of thevsteam chamber into the condenser R where it is condensed. The water inthe condenser, Y

which is partly heated by the steam and the condenser steam, is drawnoff by the pumps to supply the boiler. This will produce a partialvacuum in the condenser which will cause the cold water to flow thereinthrough the supply tube T which is provided with a cock for regulatingthe supply of cold water. It will thus be seen that from the beforedescribed construction and arrangement of the several parts of theengine that at every semi revolution of the cam wheel and shaft one ofthe valves will be withdrawn from the circular steam chamber andtheopposite valve pushed into it while a continual column of steam passesfrom the boiler into the said chamber where it acts on the pistonconstantly and against the valves alter.- nately and is let offalternately on opposite sides of the chamber into the steam way leadingto the condenser in which there willY be formed a partial vacuum, asbefore stated, causing the steam to pass instantaneously from the sideof the piston opposite to that on which the steam presses, which willgive this engine the properties of the lowpressure engine.

What we claim as our invention and which f we desire to secure byLetters Patent is- The' revolving circular valve or hub constructed withthe slot on one side, grooved or channeled on the other end an aperturepassing through it, placed in a grooved or circular recess in the bottomof the cylinder

